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Modes of Belief in God






I was thinking recently about the different ways that different theists complete the phrase "I believe in God because...."  Thinking here of the reflective believers, those who are interested in answering the question, not those who, say, simply adopted the beliefs passed on to them as children and have never questioned them.


Adopting the pronoun "Him" from convention and for convenience.


1. Mystics: "I believe in God because I am personally in touch with Him."


2.  Mysticists: "I believe in God because the last guy who spoke is credible, and until I have my own such experience I rely upon his."


3. Rationalists: "I believe in God because logically sound proofs, from plausible premises, lead to the inference that He exists."


4. Fideists: "I choose to believe in God despite the fact that there is no very powerful because."


The fideists can presumably be subdivided further. Even if there is no overpowering "because" there may be reasons that create some lesser degree of inclination toward this particular choice, and those could be stated.

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